Month: July 2021

B.J. Novak may forever be associated with his role as Ryan Howard, the douchey temp-turned-corporate VP-turned-temp again in The Office, but Novak had as much to do behind the scenes on the beloved comedy as a writer, director, and executive producer on the series. While he’s largely stuck to acting in the years since The Office ended, he’s about to embark on a whole new — and totally bonkers-sounding — adventure for FX on Hulu with The Premise.

FX is describing The Premise, which will feature an impressive lineup of guest stars, as “a fearlessly ambitious new series that uses comedy to engage with the biggest issues of our unprecedented modern era,” and based on the descriptions of the upcoming episodes, it seems like an appropriate summation. Like a purely comedic version of Black Mirror (minus the pig-f*cking… we think), The Premise will tackle topics like police misconduct, gun control, and immigration, with Novak writing (or co-writing) all five of the announced episodes and directing two of them.

The trick, of course, will be finding the right balance between comedy and current events, but something tells us that Novak’s got that under control already. Just look at the summary for the first episode, “Social Justice Sex Tape,” which features Ben Platt, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Ayo Edebiri:

“When a white, woke, twenty-something ally to social justice causes (Platt) discovers video evidence of a disputed police incident in the background of his highly embarrassing sex tape, a savvy young lawyer (Edebiri) and her mentor (Ellis Ross) strategize on how to best use the tape and witness to save an innocent man (Fowler) from prison.”

The Premise—which will also feature appearances by Daniel Dae Kim, Lola Kirke, Soko, Lucas Hedges, Kaitlyn Dever, Jon Bernthal, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ed Asner, George Wallace, Boyd Holbrook, and Beau Bridges—will debut its first two episodes on Thursday, September 16 on FX on Hulu.

(Via Variety)

Julian Casablancas is a big-time New York Mets fan. The latest album from The Strokes, 2020’s The New Abnormal, features an song named after the MLB team, “Ode To The Mets.” Meanwhile, Casablancas’ other band, The Voidz, let the team use their song “The Eternal Tao 2.0” in a promotional video to kick off the 2021 season. Now, Casablancas got to experience what is surely a dream come true: He threw the first pitch at yesterday’s Mets doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves.

He strolled up to the mount in a vintage Darryl Strawberry jersey, which he accessorized with suspenders and a hat. Thankfully, his throw was innocuous and not meme-worthy, as he pitched it just a little outside of the plate. He also did a post-pitch interview on the game TV broadcast and talked about his earliest memories about the team and even suggested an idea for a new MLB rule.

Casablancas shared some photos from his pitch and wrote on Instagram, “thank you so much @mets @snytv was so fun throwing out first pitch today. wild. love you Mets.”

Towards the end of last year, Casablancas said he’d happily write a new theme song for the Mets broadcasts for free, saying, “The SNY song was driving me nuts. I used to watch a lot of games. I knew someone who worked for the Mets, who hooked me up with tickets sometimes. I had a whole song. I was like, ‘Let me do like the song for SNY for the game.’ It was kind of epic, rising — like an exciting game is gonna happen. But they just didn’t have their [stuff] together. And they were like, ‘We don’t have a budget.’ I was like, ‘You don’t need a budget. I’ll just give you the song. I’ll do it for free.’”

There are few athletes in professional sports more connected with his fans than Chargers running back Austin Ekeler. While on Sundays Ekeler is spending his time dodging tacklers and powering his way to the endzone, during his free time it’s not uncommon to find him engaging in a different kind of game. Ekeler is an extremely active Twitch streamer with over 28,000 followers and he uses that time on Twitch to engage with his fans in a way that many athletes aren’t able to. He gets to move past the walls of social media, or press conferences, and speak with his fans directly through Twitch chat. Ekeler really values this time he has with his fans on platforms like Twitch, because while he’s unable to put faces to names, there are people he’s gotten accustomed to seeing in his chat. These fans will show up every week just so they can have a chance to interact with Ekeler, and that connection is what makes his stream different from the average athlete Twitch stream.

While it’s not uncommon to see athletes streaming on Twitch these days, they aren’t always as interactive with their chats as Ekeler is with his. When the average athlete is playing Call of Duty, or Grand Theft Auto, they’re typically playing with their friends and occasionally commenting at what chat is saying. Ekeler on the other hand largely dedicates his stream to the chat aspect.

‘It’s really about forming these bonds with my community.” Ekeler told UPROXX. “There are people who, I’ve never physically met them, but I recognize their Twitch name and I feel like I know them. I recognize people who I’ve been seeing their names in chat for over a year now. I’ve told them that if they ever come to a game to hold up a sign that says ‘Hey Austin, I’m [Twitch Name]’ and I’ll run over to them no questions asked.”

The way Ekeler got into streaming is a similar story to how a lot of hobbies were formed within the last year. As the COVID-19 pandemic pushed people inside, Ekeler saw Twitch as a way to continue interacting with his fans due to events like meet and greets no longer being an option. As his brand as a Twitch streamer grew he formed the “Gridiron Gaming Group” to give other pro athletes a chance to stream and form their own communities as well. It didn’t take long for him to get other NFL players like teammates Mike Williams and Justin Jones to get on board.

However, while Ekeler was forming GGG he never forgot about the ones who helped him get to this point. It’s Ekeler’s love for his community that has made him want to give back to it so he formed a partnership with SteelSeries to give back to them. To give them the opportunity get some of this same gear that he’ll be using in his streams. It’s also an opportunity to continue building his brand as a streamer.

“It’s no secret my passion for gaming and esports runs deep, so I am honored to become the first pro sports athlete to serve as an ambassador and join the SteelSeries family,” Ekeler said. “SteelSeries is celebrating their 20th anniversary as the original esports brand and they continue to lead the way by pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo, so I jumped at the opportunity to align and collaborate with them as I continue to build my brand across sports and culture.”

While nobody has come to a Chargers game with a sign yet, Ekeler still feels the warmth of his community pushing him forward every day. He’s one of those guys that has a storybook background in how he reached this point in his life. He was a complete unknown coming out of college, but he chose to drop out for his final semester so he could put his entire focus on football and preparing to get ready. He had a standout performance at a Pro Day and, although he went undrafted, he found himself signing with the Chargers, making the roster, and in the backfield taking his first ever carry as a pro. He didn’t waste it.

Ekeler can tell you everything about this moment from whom he was playing, to the number of yards he ran, but despite his background, he doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder the way you’d expect. He’s instead thankful for not only being in this situation but for proving himself wrong more than anything else. He wasn’t supposed to be in this situation. “I’ve always been proving myself wrong.” Ekeler said. “I never thought I would be in the NFL. I never thought I’d be on the team. I never thought I’d be at this moment of my life.”

He shows that thankfulness in how he talks about his community. Despite being this ultra-competitive NFL player, he’s able to take that competitiveness and push it towards his growth as both a football player and a streamer. Of course, this doesn’t mean his competitiveness never comes out. He just tries to keep that on the field, or while playing League of Legends.

“I usually gotta play with the chat off on League or I’ll get tilted…the worst trash talk I’ve ever heard was in that game, because everyone is hidden behind a computer screen so they can’t see who the other person is.”

While League of Legends may retain its title as having the most toxic community in the world, fans of Ekeler’s can be happy that isn’t the case. His Twitch chat is very inviting and he tries to make sure everyone feels welcome. Go check him out and who knows, maybe you can be his first fan to bring their Twitch name to a game.

The USA women’s gymnastics team took home silver at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, coming in 3.5 points behind the Russian Olympic Committee team who have now swept the gold medals in the men’s and women’s team competitions.

Making the United States’ feat all the more impressive was that they did it without Simone Biles for three of the four events, after the greatest gymnast of all-time withdrew from the team competition after the first rotation. Biles, who has the best vault in the world, scored just a 13.766 on the apparatus she has dominated for years, and it was soon announced that she would not compete the rest of the day for what was cited as “a medical issue.”

After the competition, Biles spoke at the podium with her teammates and confirmed what one of the USA coaches told the NBC broadcast, which is that she was struggling mentally with anxiety and stress and could not get herself right. As such, she felt it was best to “take a back seat” and let her teammates compete without having to see her struggle, and the result was an impressive silver medal finish, via ESPN’s Michele Steele.

Biles said she hoped to try and compete in the individual competitions, but would have to see where she is at and the US Olympic Committee CEO offered Biles her full support and made sure to tell her how proud they are of her.

The most important thing is that Biles takes the time needed to take care of her mental health. The mental focus required in gymnastics is critical, not just to score well but to simply not injure oneself, particularly doing skills at the degree of difficulty Biles does. Credit to Biles for also talking about it, not because she has to, but because it can help others see that even the very best in the world can have days where stress and anxiety derail them and that it’s OK, even on the Olympic stage, to recognize that and take a step back to take care of yourself.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are “madly in love.” They’re touching butts on fancy yachts, wearing custom jewelry with the other person’s name on it, and even have Matt Damon’s support. If they announced their engagement today for a Dunkin Donuts-themed wedding this weekend, I would not be surprised. Mazel tov to the happy couple, I say. But if the key to a healthy relationship is communication, then Lopez should communicate what she once said about Affleck’s “awful” tattoo. You know the one.

During a 2016 interview on Watch What Happens Live, Lopez was asked for her true feelings on Affleck’s phoenix back tattoo. “It’s awful,” she answered. “I would tell him… ‘What are you doing?’ It has too many colors. His tattoos always had too many colors. They shouldn’t be so colorful, you know what I mean? They should be cooler.”

Lopez and Jennifer Garner have something in common, besides, uh, both being famous actresses named Jennifer who have dated Ben Affleck. Other than that. “You know what we would say in my hometown about that? ‘Bless his heart,” Garner told Vanity Fair about the tattoo, which Affleck originally claimed was for a movie (it wasn’t). “A phoenix rising from the ashes. Am I the ashes in this scenario? I take umbrage. I refuse to be the ashes.” At least Garner is free from the phoenix. Lopez has to see it every night.

You can watch the Watch What Happens Live video above.

Lil Uzi Vert has brought back his most notable body modification and got a new one to go with it. In addition to reimplanting his notorious pink forehead diamond piercing — which is rumored to be worth $24 million — Uzi showed off his latest tattoo, which he got in an unusual spot: his tongue. The tongue tattoo plays into Uzi’s fascination with religious cults, appearing to depict an inverted cross (or the D’usse logo, I guess).

Uzi blew rap fans’ minds when he first popped up with the diamond back in February, prompting a flurry of Avengers and Steven Universe jokes at his expense, while wondering how the whole thing actually worked. The jeweler responsible, Eliantte, addressed those concerns in an interview, calling the implant “as safe as any other piercing. As long as you maintain it well and have good upkeep, it’s perfectly fine. We made sure that prior to getting anything done that Uzi brought someone in to consult on everything. We didn’t just do this randomly.”

Uzi himself explained the eye-catching addition in an interview with Fat Joe, saying, “I’m Lil Uzi. I’m turnt up. So $24 million on a ring is the stupidest idea because I’m gonna look down and that ring ain’t gon’ be there. I know me. I wake up in odd places and different sceneries.” He stopped wearing the gem in June without explanation but at least we know it wasn’t because he lost it.

You can check out Uzi’s latest modifications above.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Hulu has dropped the newest trailer for its upcoming crime series, Only Murders in the Building, which pairs Selena Gomez with comedy giants Steven Martin and Martin Short. The trio stars as neighbors in a New York apartment building, and they quickly become acquainted after one of their neighbors is murdered shortly after riding in an elevator with them. And since everyone’s got a podcast these days, it’s possibly no surprise what happens next.

While most people would leave the investigation to the police, Gomez, Martin, and Short decide to solve the murder on their own, but mostly they’re just looking for content for their true crime podcast, which leads to some darkly hilarious results in the latest trailer. Here’s the official synopsis:

Only Murders in the Building follows three strangers (Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. As they record a podcast of their own to document the case, the three unravel the complex secrets of the building which stretch back years. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living amongst them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it’s too late.

Only Murders in the Building premieres on Hulu on August 31.

When you get to be an artist of Doja Cat’s stature, it’s inevitable that you at some point won’t be able to control everything about your brand. While Doja presumably has final say over things like her music and cover art, it appears she’s not as involved with the merchandise side of things, because she thinks the merch she’s currently offering isn’t good.

Over the weekend, a fan shared an image of one of the t-shirts in Doja’s merch store, which features a photo of her in a skimpy pink outfit and wearing a pink dual-pointed headpiece. The tweet was captioned simply with question marks, and another fan replied, “who is designing this new batch of merchandise lol.” Doja quoted that tweet and responded, “i don’t know.” She quickly followed up, “the merch is bad. i’m aware. don’t worry.”

Another user tweeted, “b*tch i ain’t buying a hat for THIRTY FIVE dollars… nawt me sorry bae,” to which Doja responded, “i understand.”

Aside from the aforementioned shirt and hat, Doja’s online shop currently offers designs based on NASA logos and generic-looking Planet Her imagery, printed on crop top shirts, t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, and sweatpants.

Revisit our recent review of Planet Her here.

This week in pop music saw the return of many big-name pop stars. Lorde dropped her second single of the year, Camila Cabello ushered in her new era of music, and Coldplay offered another look at their upcoming project.

Each week, Uproxx rounds up the best new pop releases. Listen up.

Lorde — “Stoned At The Nail Salon”

After announcing her Solar Power album with the summer-ready title track, Lorde shared the stripped-down tune “Stoned At The Nail Salon,” which boasts wistful acoustic guitar as the singer contemplates how her life has fundamentally shifted in the last few years. “This song is sort of a rumination on getting older, settling into domesticity, and questioning if you’ve made the right decisions,” Lorde said of the track.

Camila Cabello — “Don’t Go Yet”

It’s been nearly two years since Camila Cabello released her sophomore album Romance, and after taking some time off of music to star in the upcoming Cinderella remake, the singer is ready for her next chapter. Cabello fired off the rhythmic tune “Don’t Go Yet” to mark her next era of music, making it clear that she’s gearing up to drop even more energetic hits.

Coldplay — “Coloratura”

While many pop musicians shared summer-ready hits this week, Coldplay did something a little different. They debuted the 10-minute Music Of The Spheres album closer “Coloratura,” which opens with atmospheric soundscapes before the song transitions into a Dark Side Of The Moon-inspired ballad as vocalist Chris Martin sings of the cosmos.

Khalid — “New Normal”

Khalid returned with the brooding single “New Normal,” a song which officially announces his upcoming album Everything Is Changing. The soulful track is Khalid’s way of letting fans know that, whatever they’re going through, things will get better. “‘New Normal’ was inspired by how I was feeling during the pandemic and the emotional toll that quarantine took on me and my friends,” Khalid said about his new single.

Bazzi — “I Like That”

The last we heard from Bazzi was nearly a year ago with the pop crooner dropped his carefree track “Young & Alive.” Now armed with new music, the singer shares the funk-forward tune “I Like That,” a playful tune shouting out his crush. “This is the start of a series of songs that are my absolute favorite I’ve made to date. I’m pushing myself musically & simply having more fun,” Bazzi said about the effort.

Remi Wolf — “Liquor Store”

Eccentric pop singer Remi Wolf heralds her upcoming album this week with the playful track “Liquor Store.” The rousing track shows what Wolf does best, combining captivating hooks, cheeky lyrics, and a blown out chorus to craft an effortlessly-fun tune. About the single, Wolf said she was feeling particularly creative at the time: “At the end of 2020, after six months away from the studio, I had a crazy explosive week where all these feelings came pouring out of me — ‘Liquor Store’ captures a lot of them.”

James Blake — “Say What You Will”

Officially setting a fall date for his upcoming album Friends That Break Your Heart, Grammy-winning artist James Blake debuted the cathartic tune “Say What You Will.” The tender ballad details some of the hardships Blake has experienced following his rise to fame, showcasing his affecting vocals over gentle instrumentation. “The song is about finding peace with who you are and where you’re at regardless of how well other people seem to be doing,” Blake said of the new song in a statement. “Comparison really is the thief of joy.”

Anne-Marie — “Kiss My (Uh Oh)” Feat. Little Mix

Pop singer Anne-Marie shared her anticipated album Therapy this week. While much of the effort sees the singer opening up about her insecurities, it also features some wildly fun songs like “Kiss My (Uh Oh)” with girl group Little Mix. The kiss-off song is an empowering ode to realizing self worth and leaving all those who don’t serve you in the rear view mirror.

Kiana Ledé — “Ur Best Friend” Feat. Kehlani

After keeping busy this with a number of collaborations, Kiana Ledé adds one more to the list with her “Ur Best Friend” track with R&B expert Kehlani. The simmering tune expertly combines both singers’ sultry vocals with skittering cymbals, lush keys, and a head-nodding bass.

Julia Wolf — “Resting B*tch Face Pt. 2”

Following up on her breakout track “RBF Pt. 1,” introspective pop singer Julia Wolf returns with the cutting single “Resting B*tch Face Pt. 2.” The driving song boasts a pop punk-inspired riff over pounding beat as Wolf sings an empowering anthem about not changing herself for the comfort of others. “So many girls can relate to being shy and being told they look standoffish, or are hard to talk to, but we shouldn’t have to change ourselves for the sake of pleasing someone else’s ego,” she said about the track. “I won’t be changing for anyone; I just wanted to let people know my reasons that exist behind the RBF face.”

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music group.

In totally unsurprising news: Piers Morgan is ranting. But this time there’s a twist (well, two if you count the fact that it has nothing to do with Meghan Markle): We’re—cringe!—kind of on Morgan’s side with his latest tirade… even if it is a wee bit overzealous. In a new op-ed for The Daily Mail, Morgan is taking aim at “America’s anti-vaxxer lunatics,” whom he claims “are snatching COVID defeat from the jaws of vaccinated victory with their conspiracy-theory garbage and must be stopped from destroying everybody’s freedom” (and that’s just the article’s title).

Morgan—who just this weekend announced that he had contracted COVID, presumably during Wembley’s Euro Championships final—didn’t end there, because of course he didn’t. In fact, he was just getting started when he wrote that:

“Put bluntly, a lot of deluded, ill-informed, shamefully scare-mongered, or simply complacent Americans have got it into their heads that either the COVID vaccines are somehow more dangerous than COVID itself, or the virus isn’t serious enough to warrant protection from it.

Some of these skeptics believe the insane conspiracy-theory that the US Government is using vaccines to plant microchips in their heads to control their minds. (Don’t laugh: a recent Economist/YouGov poll revealed that 20 percent of Americans really do suspect this.)”

Ouch—a sick burn from Morgan that’s actually totally warranted.

Morgan, who is no stranger to hate mail, went on to explain that when he shared his recent COVID diagnosis on social media and urged everyone to get vaccinated, “I was promptly bombarded with an astonishing amount of utterly insane and incredibly vitriolic responses from the anti-vaxxer brigade — many of them in America… They didn’t believe I’d had COVID, or if I did, then it proved the vaccines don’t work. They screamed abuse at me for encouraging people to get the vaccines, many branding me ‘Mengele’ after Josef Mengele, the evil Nazi ‘Angel of Death’ scientist who helped create the Holocaust gas chambers and performed deadly experiments on concentration camp prisoners.”

Morgan had lots more to say—lots, lots more—but his conclusion is hard to disagree with: “To win the war on COVID, we need to go to war on the anti-vaxxers — shut them down, get them off the airwaves, ban them from social media, and urgently re-educate their brainwashed followers about the incontrovertible truth around vaccines.”